SIMPLY JESUS
ENDURING WITH JESUS
HEBREWS 12:1-13
INTRODUCTION
-Have you ever had that life changing moment when you decided to get in shape?
-Some of you are thinking, “I’ve never been in shape…but I’ve heard about that from a friend.”
-If getting in shape is the goal, you’re going to run into a painful reality that is called “exercise.”
-Many people give up exercising shortly after they start exercising
-If you decide to get in shape you will have to do your first workout. And you’ll learn a lot about yourself in that first workout
-When you have your first workout you’ll discover all the extra weight you’ve been carrying around…it jiggles.
-You’ll discover what kind of cardio condition you’re in when you’re…gasping for breath.
-Exercising even reveals the kind of food you eat; junk food tastes good but does not fuel your body properly.
-And yet many people have quit exercising in favor of ice cream.
-You’ll also find out about mental toughness in exercise
-Because if you want to go from couch potato to being in shape; it’s going to hurt. You’re going to want to quit.
-You’ll have to force yourself mentally to keep going.
-To be in shape…it will take discipline in your schedule, discipline your diet, discipline w/your body, and in your mental toughness.
-And, unless you’re one of those ROBOTS who are completely self-motivated, you will probably need some encouragement.
-Hebrews chapter 12 is a passage that encourages us to stay in shape. But it’s aimed at our spiritual condition, not our physical.
-Heb 11 records a whole list of people that made it. Faith in tact!
-As we read about those people of exceptional faith we sometimes wonder…how do we do that?
-How do we endure with Jesus to the end of our lives?
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.
-If we are going to endure to the end w/Jesus the 1st thing to do…
1. GET RID OF DEAD WEIGHT , DISTRACTIONS, AND SIN.
-All those things weigh us down and make it hard for us to keep move forward.
-Many people here want to be stronger Christians.
-But you find yourself feeling discouraged, dissatisfied, and generally disappointed about your life in the faith.
-Every time someone asks you about your walk with God you say, “needs improvement”, “could be better”, “I need to get serious”
- “What’s holding you back?”
-Hebrews 12:1 says names the usual suspect that slows us down and tripping us up.
-Some of what slows us down is dead weight…baggage.
-You had a bad church experience so now you’re down on church.
-You tried reading your Bible and gave it up because it was hard.
-You were on the right track but got offended by another Christian and you got bitter and you quit.
-That stuff happens to everyone! Get rid of that baggage!
-If it hasn’t happened yet it will…just wait.
-If it hasn’t happened recently…give it time!
-We can’t get weighed down by the drama.
-That stuff just slows us down. It holding us down…and keeps us from being who God has called us to be.
-So strip off that dead weight and keep moving forward.
-Notice that another big culprits that slows us down…is sin.
-Sin is to the Christian life like, donuts are to exercise.
-Sin counteracts all that God is trying to do with us.
-Some of you have tried to get serious about your faith for years…but you haven’t succeeded because there is sin in your life that you refused to deal with.
-It may be addictive things like alcohol, pornography, drugs.
-You may have to go through Celebrate Recovery to kick that sin!
-It might be that you’re living in a relationship outside of marriage
-It may be anger, bitterness, jealousy, laziness, unforgiveness or a million others things. We all struggle with sin.
-It doesn’t really matter what sin you deal with…sin slows us down. It keeps us from being what God has called us to be.
-So our author suggests a fairly simply remedy for sin. Get rid of it.
-Stop making excuses. Stop blaming others. Stop kidding yourself.
-If your smart phone it tempting you, get a dumb phone.
-If you’re drinking to get through your troubles, dump out the
bottles out and be here on Monday night at 6:30.
-If you’re gossiping with your girlfriends, or yelling at your wife, or disobeying your parents, or blowing your paycheck at casino…
when you discover sin in your life get rid of it.
-Sin keeps you stuck in sin. God has a better plan for your life!
let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin
that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
2. RUN THE RACE WITH ENDURANCE!
-Can you envision this picture that our author is painting here?
-If you have ever done any long distance running, biking, even walking…you’ll get this analogy of the race.
-In a race there is a start and a finish.
-And to finish that race you have to consider the distance, the time it’s going to take, and how much you’ll need to train.
-No right thinking person would even attempt to run a race without being in shape…if you don’t have the endurance…you can’t finish. You will fail miserably.
-Our author calls the Christian life a race. We start when we find simple in faith in Jesus.
-When we keep our faith to the very end…when hold on to Jesus until our dying day…we’ll cross that finish line.
-He’s laid out the course for us…he’s shown us what it takes to finish this Christian life in route to our heavenly life.
-You’ll notice that endurance is needed to run our race.
-HOW DO YOU RUN WITH ENDURANCE? BY ENDURING MANY RUNS.
-If you are a couch potato living on steady diet of ding dongs, and you suddenly get the urge to run a marathon, you’re going to fail.
-You don’t have the stamina, the strength, the training to make it for that kind of distance.
-That’s a lot of running for someone who hasn’t put it the miles.
-Some of you love the idea of finishing strong but you’re spiritual training is sorely lacking.
-We become a strong enduring Christians by enduring many trials, setbacks, temptations, and challenges.
-We learn endurance by spending time in the God’s Word.
-We get stronger by spending time in God’s presence…prayer
-We get staying power by training with other Christians on Sundays and during the week in our life2life groups.
-You don’t become a strong Christians accidentally or magically.
-You learn to be an enduring Christian by being an enduring Christian. Not by quitting, not by sulking, not by whining.
-Each time we persevere through something we get stronger.
-And we have a great example to learn from. Look at vs 2:
2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
LEARN ENDURANCE FROM CHRIST’S EXAMPLE. I love this section!
-We learn how from the champion, Jesus Christ.
-If our goal is endurance, we have no better example than Jesus!
-When my son Curtis was in 3rd grade he played little league baseball and his coach was a man named Scott Brosius.
-Scott Brosius was a New York Yankee, won a couple of world series, and probably a bit over qualified to coach little league.
-He told our 3rd grade kids things about baseball that I had never even heard of or considered.
-I was thrilled to have him coach my son in baseball, because he is a champion! And a great Christian guy.
-And that’s what we’ve got going for us in the area of endurance.
-The one that we are following is the champion of endurance!
-Did you see all that Jesus endured?
-He endured public humiliation and shame.
-He endured hostility from sinful people.
-Notice how he endured it? He had his eye on the finish line.
-It says he endured the cross…knowing that there was joy awaiting him!
-He endured that humiliation, knowing that he was heading to a place of honor at God’s right hand.
-And that is why he is called our “Champion”…he finished strong!
-So many people quit before they get to the finish line.
-I can’t do it. I’m tired. I’m angry. I’ve tried & failed. It’s too hard.
-And our author makes a very pointed statement.
-He says you haven’t DIED have you? Well…Jesus did.
-As bad as you may think you have it…it could be worse. Dead!
-If Jesus could patiently endure knowing that something better is ahead, then so can we.
-If Jesus can put up with suffering, with hostile people, and with humiliation…then so can we.
-He died a terrible death by keeping his eyes on the finish line.
LEARN ENDURANCE THROUGH DISCIPLINE.
5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. 6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” 7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children.
-I remember when I was a little kid being taken to a place of terrible punishment known as “the garage”.
-When I was in trouble my dad would take us to the garage where he kept all of his torture devices.
-Depending on what kind of mood he was in and what the offense had been, we either got the belt or the yardstick.
-I preferred the yard stick because it didn’t hurt as bad.
-My dad preferred the belt…probably because it hurt worse!
-My dad wore slacks for work and I can still remember that leather belt sliding through the polyester belt loops with lighting speed. It made a distinct sound when applied to my rear end.
-My dad would sometimes say, “This hurts me more than it hurts you.” And I remember thinking, that’s probably not true!
-Why did my father discipline me?
-Besides the fact that I had it coming…because he loved me.
-He wanted me to learn how to obey…how to behave.
-Our passage says that God only disciplines those he loves.
-There are times when the discipline of the Lord seems too heavy to bear. It can feel like a crushing blow.
-But the discipline of the Lord proves his love for us, and it’s what teaches us to obey.
-The discipline of the Lord is designed to refine us, to prepare us to endure, and to strengthen our resolve.
-His discipline comes in different forms.
A. GOD PUNISHES US FOR DISOBEDIENCE. (VS 7B-9)
-This is so basic and yet foreign to many Christians.
-So many churches are so lopsided in in favor of God’s love and grace that things like discipline never even come up.
-When my pastor Tom counseled people who were in crisis he’d ask them if there was any unconfessed sin in their lives.
-He’d seen God discipline so many times that he doesn’t wonder any more IF there is something going on, he just asked.
-And this lines up with our passage.
Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?
-When you make bad decisions in life there are consequences.
-That’s a lessons that you’re supposed to learn when you’re a child. If your parents love you they discipline you so you’ll learn.
-You mouth off to mom you get grounded.
-You break the rules you lose a privilege.
-You treat your sister/brother badly you have to apologize.
-You do something bad enough you might even get the belt!
-Learning those lessons as children helps prepare us to survive our adolescence and adulthood.
-They are always going to be bosses, there are always going to be rules, there are always going people you’ve got to get along with.
-Discipline prepares us for life.
-Parents, if you love your kids you’ll discipline them.
-Kids, life realize that your parents discipline you to prepare for you life.
-And in the same way our loving God disciplines us in order to shape our character…to help us endure to the end.
-There are times when we blow it and God spanks us. You all know what I’m talking about.
-Discipline is a direct consequence for doing something wrong.
B. GOD ALLOWS TRIALS TO TEACH US ENDURANCE. (VS 10-11)
10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
-The Lord’s discipline can also be painful seasons we go through to learn endurance.
-Going through a season of unemployment to learn reliance on…
-Going through physical pain to learn patience in suffering.
-Going through times of uncertainty to grow in faith.
-Going through doubts to become more convinced of the truth.
-These are all examples of God teaching us discipline.
-Whether you’re being punished or just allowed to go through a season of suffering…God is teaching you how to endure.
-Don’t give up when the Lord is disciplining.
-There are lessons to learn in suffering. Notice…not enjoyable!
-But no matter how bad it seems, these seasons of hardship don’t last forever. And the produce a harvest of right living.
-Hard times shape us into men and women of character.
-The seasons of difficultly toughen our resolve.
-The Lord disciplines us because he loves us and he wants us to finish strong. To cross that finish line.
C. KEEP MOVING FORWARD.
12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.
-Some of you are at your wits end with your job.
-Take a new grip with those tired hands and keep working at it.
-Some you are struggling with money, marriage, kids.
-Strengthen those weak knees and keep walking ahead.
-Some of you are going through a crisis, you’re wrestling with doubts, you’re overcome with fear about the future.
-Some here are thinking about giving up.
-Mark a straight path for your feet, and keep walking.
-Those who endure to the end with Jesus gain everything.
-On the other side of the finish line is heaven.
-Our champion is there waiting for us. Jesus.
